Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/787

Rh LETREUS. mentions her as the friend of the Trojans in the war with the Greeks, and in the story of Niobe, who paid so dearly for her conduct towards Leto. (//. V. 447, XX. 40, 72, xxiv. 607 ; comp. xxi, 502, Od. xi. 580, Hymn, in Apoll. 45, &c., 89, «&c.) In later writers these elements of her story are vari- ously worked out and embellished, for they do not describe her as the lawful wife of Zeus, but merely as a concubine, who was persecuted during her pregnancy by Hera. (Apollod. i. 4, $ 1 ; Callim. Hymn, in Del. 61, &c. ; Schol. ad Enrip. Fhoen. 232, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 140.) All the world being afraid of receiving her on account of Hera, she wan- dered about till she came to the island of Delos, which was then a floating island, and bore the name Asteria (Callim. Hymn, in Dian. 35, 37, 191); but when Leto touched it, it suddenly stood still upon four pillars. (Pind. Fragm. 38 ; Strab. xi. p. 485.) According to Hyginus (Fa6. 93, 140), Delos Avas previously called Ortygia, while Stephanus Byzantinus {s. v. Kopia-aSs) mentions a tradition, according to which Artemis was not born in Delos, but at Corissus. Servius (ad Aen. iii. 72) relates the following legends : Zeus changed Leto into a quail (opTu|), and in this state she arrived in the lioHting island, which was hence called Ortygia ; or, Zeus was enamoured with Asteria, but she being metamorphosed, through her prayers, into a bird. Hew across the sea ; she was then changed into a rock, which, for a long time, lay under the surface of the sea ; but, at the request of Leto, it rose and received Leto, who was pursued by Python. Leto then gave birth to Apollo, who slew Python. (Comp. Anton. Lib. 35 ; Ov. Met. vi. 370 ; Aris- tot. Hist. Anim. vi. 35 ; Athen. xv. 701 ; ApoUon. Rhod. ii. 707; lamblich. Vit Fyth. 10; Strab. xiv. p. 639 : in each of these passages we find the tra- dition modified in a particular way.) But notwith- standing the many discrepancies, especially in regard to the place where Leto gave birth to her children, most traditions agree in describing Delos as the place. (Callim. Hymn, in ApoU. init. 59, in Del. 206, 261; Aeschyl. Eum. 9; Herod, ii. 170.) After the birth of Apollo, his mother not being able to nurse him, Themis gave him nectar and ambrosia ; and by his birth the island of Delos became sacred, so that henceforth it was not lawful for any human being to be born or to die on the island ; and every pregnant woman was conveyed to the neighbouring island of Rheneia, in order not to pollute Delos. (Strab. x. p. 486.) We shall pass over the various speculations of modern writers respecting the origin and nature of this divinity, and shall mention only the most pro- bable, according to which Leto is " the obscure " or " concealed," not as a physical power, but as a divinity yet quiescent and invisible, from whom is issued the visible divinity with all his splendour and brilliancy. This view is supported by the ac- count of her genealogy given by Ilesiod; and her whole legend seems to indicate nothing e2se but the issuing from darkness to light, and a return from- the latter to the former. Leto was generally worshipped only in conjunction with her children, as at Megara (Paus. i. 44. § 2), at Argos (ii. 21. § 10), at Amphigeneia (Strab. viii. p. 349), in Lycia (ibid. xiv. p. 665), near Lete in Macedonia (Steph. Byz. s. v. At^ttj), in a grove near Calynda in Caria (Strab. xiv. p. 651), and other places. (Comp. Hirt. Mytliol. Bilderh. Tab. v. 4.) [L. S.] LETREUS (Aer^eus), a son of Pelops, and the LEUCIPPUS. 73 reputed founder of Letrini, on the western coast of Peloponnesus. (Paus. vi. 22. § 5.) [L. S.] LEVANA, a Roman divinity, who derived her name from the custom that the father picked up his new-born child from the ground, by which symbolic act he declared his intention not to kill the child, but to bring it up. (August. De Civ. Dei,iy..) [L. S.] LEUCA'DIUS (Aeu/fctStos), a son of Icarius and Polycaste, and a brother of Penelope and Alyzeus. Leucas was believed to have derived its name from him. (Strab. x. pp. 452, 461.) Leucadius or Leucates also occurs as a surname of Apollo, which he derived from a temple in Leucas. (Strab. I. c. ; Ov. Trist. iii. 1. 42; Propert. iii. 11. 69 ; comp. Thuc. iii. 94 ; Serv. ad Aen. iii. 274.) [L. S.] LEUCAEUS (AeuKatos), a surname of Zeus, under which he was worshipped at Lepreus, in Elis. (Paus. V. 5. § 4.) [L. S.] LEUCE (AeuKTj), a nymph, a daughter of Oce- anus, who was carried off by Pluto ; and after her death, was changed into a white poplar in Elysium. (Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vii. 61.) [L. S.J LEUCIPPE (Aev/ci'TTTTTj). 1. One of the nymphs who was with Persephone at the time she was carried off. (Horn. Hymn, in Cer. 418 ; Paus. iv. 30. § 4.) 2. [Alcathoe.] 3. The wife of Ilus, and mother of Laomedon. (Hygin. Fab. 250.) 4. A daughter of Thestor. (Hj-gin. Fab. 190.) 5. The wife of Thestius. (Hygin. Fah. 14.) 6. A daughter of Minyas of Orehomenos. (Ae- lian, Var. Hist. iii. 42.) [L. S.] LEUCrPPlDES (AeuKiTTirfSes), i.e. the daugh- ters of the Messenian prince Leucippus. (Eurip. Helen. 1467.) Their names were Phoebe and Hilaeira, and they were priestesses of Athena and Artemis, and betrothed to Idas and Lynceus, the sons.of Aphareus ; but Castor and Polydeuces being charmed with their beauty, carried them off and married them. (Apollod. iii. 12. § 8, 10. § 3; Paus. i. 18. § ].) When the sons of Aphareus attempted to rescue their beloved brides, they were both slain by the Dioscuri. (Hygin. Fab. 80; Lactant. i. 10; OV. Heroid. xvi. 327^, FmL v. 709; Theocrit.xxii. 137, &c. ; Propert. i.2.15,&c.) [L.S.] LEUCIPPUS (AewKiTTTTos). 1. A son of Oenomaus. (Faus. viii. 20. § 2 ; Horn. Hymn, in ApoU. 212; comp. Daphne.) 2. A son of Perieres and Gorgophone, and brother oi A phareus. He was the father of Arsinoe^ Phoebe, and Hilaeira, and prince of the Messenians. He is mentioned among the Calydonian hunters, and the Boeotian town of Leuctra is said to have derived its name from him. (Paus. iii. 26. § 3, iv. 2. § 3, 31. § 9 ; Ov. Met. viii. 306 ; Apollod. iiii 10. §3, 11. §2.) 3. A son of Thurimachus, and father of Cal- chinia, was king of Sicyon. (Paus. ii. 5. § 5.) 4. A son of Heracles and Eurytele. (Apollod. ii. 7.§.8.) 5. A son of Naxus, and father of Smerdius, was king of Naxos. (Diod. v. 51.) 6. The leader of a colony, which Macareus con- ducted from Lesbos to Rhodes. (Diod. v. 81.) 7. One of the Achaean settlers at Metapontum. (Strab. vi. p. 265.) [L. S.J LEUCIPPUS (Afu/cmTTos), a Grecian philoso- pher, who is on all hands admitted to have been the founder of the atomic theory of the ancient 3d 3